"Rethinking Diversity Training"

Boston Herald
By Paul Restuccia
Published: April 14, 2008

Rethinking Diversity Training
Consultants say programs need greater results

Studies show training often fails to change minority mix

With major studies showing that diversity training is having little positive impact, a growing number of diversity consultants are saying that it’s time to rethink how it’s being done by major companies.

Corporate America spends upwards of $300 million a year on diversity training but seem to be getting little out of it.

New research led by Professor Alexandra Kalev of the University of Arizona that looked at 30 years of data from 830 American companies showed that ― after diversity training ― the number of black male executives actually fell by 12 percent, the number of black female executives fell by 10 percent and the number of white female executives dropped by 7.5 percent.

A 2006 study by Kalev and Harvard sociology professor Frank Dobbin also found little or no benefit to diversity training.

“Often the training lasts for a day and is forgotten,” says Tim Wilson of T.A. Wilson & Associates, a Northboro-based management consultant who now shies away from doing diversity programs because he sees the source of many problems as poor management.

“Typically, a manager does something stupid and they call for some diversity training,” Wilson says. “It often becomes an exercise in political correctness where everyone is overly sensitive and afraid to say anything.”

Fred Smith, vice president of Brighton-based Novations Group, one of the country’s largest providers of diversity consulting, is also a vocal critic of the way a lot of diversity training is conducted.

Smith helped devise survey questions for a recently released Novations diversity study that polled 2,500 senior human resources executives. Many HR chiefs said there were serious flaws in their diversity programs ― that they lacked clear objectives, did not address development and advancement issues and that the content was trite. And almost a third said there was no way to measure if the training was even effective.

A study of 63 diversity programs led by Professor Susan E. Jackson of Rutgers University concluded that diversity programs’ effectiveness could not be quantifiably measured by a common corporate analysis tool called SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and tactics).

“My reaction to those consultants who say you can measure the effect of diversity is ‘show me the numbers’ ” Wilson says. “And you need some kind of reinforcement ― to bring back people to see what kind of progress is being made. Diversity has to be part of the strategic plan of the company to have any impact.”

These academic studies have produced a backlash within companies and the business-as-usual diversity consultant community.

Smith says “diversity fatigue” occurs because the high turnover of diversity chiefs produces a stop-and-start approach. He says companies often choose diversity chiefs from executives near the end of their corporate careers and do not provide them with training or certification.

“Many companies have no real commitment to a diverse work force, but seek the positive public relations value of appearing to do the right thing.” Smith says, “I tell companies that, if you are not able to measure the return on investment you put into diversity training and initiatives, then you shouldn’t do it.”

Smith also decries some of the typical training program content such as the “blame and shame: where you call people in and make them feel bad.”

“Many consultants who sell diversity training aren’t concerned about whether or not it accomplishes anything,” Smith adds. “They collect their fee and have no desire to change their business models. But it casts a bad shadow on those of us who do really care.”
Other consultants see typical training themes such as “celebrating diversity” and “ethnic dinners” as having little value in addressing issues of discrimination.

“There’s too much focus on celebrating diversity rather than more direct talk about gender, race and racism,” said Carmen Van Kerckhove, who started her own alternative to diversity training called New Demographic, a New York-based company which has done many presentations to colleges, companies and nonprofits in the Boston area.

“The entire setup of typical diversity training is not conducive to learning,” Van Kerckhove said. “Attendance is mandatory while your work piles up. And you’re sitting there with people you work with and don’t want to endanger your relationships with them by speaking up.”
Van Kerckhove, who is a mix of Chinese and Belgian, uses a lot of humor in her presentations as well as provocative insights on race and gender issues that she says open up participants to really speak their minds.

“A lot of companies’ primary objective in doing this is liability protection,” Van Kerckhove said. “In case they get sued, they can say they have diversity training once a year to get them off the hook.”

Some consultants say that to be successful, diversity training has to move out of the realm of human resources.

“Diversity training has to move into the operational side of business,” says diversity consultant Vincent Cramer of The Winchester Consulting Group. “Diversity, like quality, should be ingrained in everything a company does ― it’s not about inclusion, but about impact, how it affects the bottom line."

Cramer says diversity needs to be seen as a major company asset, which has to be managed effectively. And that instead of telling a diverse work force that getting along is a prerequisite for accomplishing anything as a team, the focus ought to be on accomplishing something first, which will then lead to mutual appreciation.

“People hear the “d” word and their eyes glaze over, thinking about going to talk about sensitivity, relating, understanding each other,” Cramer says. “We need to move the training from the people-to-people focus to one of getting things done. The approach to diversity training should be, “How do we make our business successful in a way that makes the best use of all our people?”